After the Dawn Has Come
by Sivan IXXX
Summary: Trauma has a way of bringing people closer together, or drive them further apart. Sam, Mike and the rest of the gang try to return to normal life, but the nightmare they experienced on the mountain refuses to let them go. Maybe the Butterfly Effect had come to pay them a visit. Sam x Mike. Slow burn romance.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I don't know if anyone else heard (I'm sure the fans have), but they're making a prequel of sorts to Until Dawn. It's gonna focus on the sanatorium and the mining incident that happened 60 plus years ago. Sounds interesting enough.**

 **Anyway, this story is going to focus on Sam and Mike, mostly, so if you're not a fan of the pairing, you don't have to read it. Anyway, I'm into slow burning romances, so if you're looking for fast-paced, hormone driven material, it's not here.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or elements from the Until Dawn game, and any original characters or unfamiliar characters in this story belong to me.**

* * *

 **Introduction: Dawn Part I**

Sam didn't know how long she sat in the snow before the medics came. Her body was present, but her mind was not.

She could feel the flames from the explosion licking her face, the unforgiving wetness of the snow bleeding through her yoga pants.

After the hell she had been through, it was quiet. It was _finally_ quiet.

She felt something warm on her shoulders—a pair of hands connected to arms in a green jacket. His voice vibrated against her ears, but she couldn't understand what he was saying.

Sam felt like her ears had cotton balls stuffed into them, or like she was in a snow globe, trapped inside a muted, white world.

She looked down at her hands; they were filthy. Her once bright red track jacket was now dull and dirty.

Her friends were scattered in the snow. Emily's hair looked like a bird's nest, Chris' left eyeglass lens was cracked, and Ashley's left eye had been worked over with an ugly purple bruise.

Who was this person touching her? Sam looked up, despite the pain in her neck.

"Sam, jeez, are you okay? Can you hear me?" Mike's dark blue eyes were tainted with worry and concern. He was holding her face now, his palm feverish against her cheek, and the other on her shoulder.

Finally, she came to, and the intense gusts coming from the blades of the helicopter blew snow in her face. "Mike," she said barely above a whisper.

He closed his eyes, bringing her into his chest. He felt so warm. "Thank goodness," he sighed into her hair. "You saved all of us."

"So did you."

"Well...then we both did. But no one can know."

"Know what?"

"That _that_ was Hannah."

.

When Sam finally woke up, she hadn't even realized that she had fallen asleep.

Whatever surface she had used to rest her head was soft and warm. The calm, steady _lub dub_ against her ear was a heart. She moved a little, and the arm around her loosened its grip.

"I figured by the time we made it to the police station, I'd be swimming in a pool of your slob," Mike joked.

Sam attempted to sit up straight; they were in a helicopter full of strangers, and here she was drooling in her sleep on Mike's shirt. Where were her friends?

"You don't have to wake up; we're not there yet."

"It's fine," she mumbled, her voice thick with fatigue. Her throat was as dry as a desert. When was the last time she had eaten? Drank water?

Her stomach seemed to be in tune with her thoughts; it growled loud enough for Mike to hear.

"It's a good thing we're not on the mountain anymore, right?"

"Mike, really?" she groaned.

"Just trying to lighten the mood, y'know." She gave him a weary look, and he cast his eyes downward. The conversation ended then. Finally, they had escaped the shadow of Blackwood Forest, and they were over the flatlands, headed towards civilization, and people.

Warm, smiling, sane people.

* * *

 **I would imagine that they would all experience some form of PTSD after what happened on that mountain. I mean, getting chased by monsters that they didn't even know existed? Losing yet another friend to the same place? I'd like to think it would be hard to return to normal life like nothing had happened.**

 **Anyway, their emotional trauma will come out in the next chapter, and we'll slowly build up to the eventual pairing from there.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I've been doing a little digging on this pairing and apparently there is a following for it. I think it makes sense; I don't want to go into detail about why in the author's notes, because I'd rather let the story do the telling.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or elements from the Until Dawn game or well-known entities mentioned in this story, and any original characters or unfamiliar characters in this story belong to me.

Dawn Part II

When they got to the police station, everyone was eerily quiet. No one had bothered to lift their head from staring hard at the floor, or at their shoes—anything but the person next to them or across from them.

Chris and Ashley sat hand in hand, as if someone were threatening to take them apart. Emily had tears brimming in her eyes as she hugged herself. Jessica appeared to be catatonic; she had the most injuries out of everyone. Her chest bared a gash, as well as her lip and her forehead. There was no telling what kind of bruises and scratches lay hidden under her clothes. Naturally, Mike was sitting close to her, seemingly unsure as to whether or not he should touch her.

Matt was next to Sam, shaking his head softly. Now that the adrenaline had left her body, her own wounds were coming to life. Her right leg had a gash from her fall in the mines, and the blood was caked onto her shaft. Taking a bath—a shower seemed more sensible at this point—would be torture, but she longed to be clean.

Finally, an officer came in and interrupted the silence. Thankfully, it wasn't the male cop with the robotic voice; it was a middle-aged woman with copper red hair. "We want to thank you all for giving us your statements. You all have been through a lot in one night, and you lost another friend."

"I wouldn't call him a friend after the mess we just went through," Emily scoffed. "We all look like crap."

"I understand how upset you all are, but your friend was sick." She had a gentle, calming voice. Her lapel read: Miranda Keller, Det.

"He was getting help. H-he had a psychologist who prescribed him medication," Chris added.

"Chris, Josh had stopped taking it weeks ago. He was _literally_ out of his mind," Mike retorted. "What he did was sick, okay? Making us believe that he was dead and—"

"That was a symptom of his condition. He may not have even been aware of what he was doing," the detective threw in.

"How could he not?" Emily bit out, jumping to her feet. "I don't care if he was sick or not, that _psycho_ nearly got me killed!"

"Even after everything that has happened, you can only think about _yourself_ ," Matt ground out in disgust. Sam was surprised to hear him speak; he had looked so out of tune with the conversation.

Emily turned to him, a mixture of surprise and shock on her face. "What did you say Matt?"

He got to his feet as well. Everyone had perked up at the tone in his voice; this new side of Matt was unsettling. "I said, you're _selfish_. All you can think about is yourself. I risked my life to save yours! That-that thing nearly hung me on a hook like a fish! I could've jumped to safety and left you to die! And what's more, you _lied_ to me! To my face!" His chest heaved with burning anger.

"Hey, Matt calm down," Chris said. Ashley was cradling her head in her hands, letting the tears flow.

"No! I've had enough of this! I am done, Emily."

The color left the brunette's face and she went for him. "What does that mean, Matt? I'm your girlfriend, talk to—"

He snatched his arm away from her reach. "No, Emily. I'm done talking. _We're_ done. End of story."

"Matthew," Miranda called after him. The door slammed shut, and Emily merely stood there, her hands balled into fists.

"That jerk dumped _me_! Me, of all girls! He'll come back, I know he will." But she didn't sound so sure. She looked around the room; all of her friends had their eyes on her. "What are you looking at? This isn't Jerry Springer." She sat back down and crossed her arms and legs.

Detective Keller took in a shallow breath. "We can continue without him. An SUV will be here soon to take you guys to the hospital. After that, is the road to recovery."

"None of us have lost any limbs or anything serious," Ashley hunched her shoulders.

"I'm not talking about a physical recovery."

.

After several weeks, Sam knew exactly what Detective Keller meant by her words.

She enjoyed thriller movies, but she hated the way her mind played tricks on her. It would take a few days for her to not turn off the light and sprint for her room like someone was chasing her. Her mom would look at her strange when she would double check all of the doors and windows.

But this…this was different.

She had actually lived through a horror movie. If the media ever got wind of their experiences, it would be a movie in a year.

Baths were out of the question.

She slept with her light on.

Scary movies were out of the question.

She didn't want to vacation anywhere near a mountain, forests, or snow.

And no more night walks to clear her head. She tried it once after she had returned home, and it only filled her with dread, anxiety, and fear.

Her mother asked her almost every day how she was doing, and while she appreciated it, it was starting to wear on her nerves. Were they expecting her to start sleeping with a gun under her pillow? Slit her wrists? Pop a whole bottle of sleeping pills?

Her dad offered to walk with her in the early evening right after dinner, get her a dog, and had even suggested volunteering at the hospital downtown.

When she asked why, he told her that focusing on something new and productive would purge the demons in her head.

Because she didn't want to schedule visits with a psychologist, she accepted all of his suggestions. They walked in silence most days with her new dog alongside them. Her dad had surprised her with a Husky pup with icy blue eyes and a grey coat.

At first, she had hesitated to volunteer at the hospital, but her teachers at the college had suggested she take off the rest of the spring semester.

So volunteer she did. She filed papers, sat at the front desk to greet patients, and helped restock the gift shop.

One day, she was carrying a stack of greeting cards in a box when she bumped hard into someone. Both of them went crashing to the floor, and she heard the person—apparently female— _oof_ as they landed.

"I'm sorry," she apologized quickly, gathering the cards. The person's pills had rolled next to her, and she grabbed the bottle.

The name on the label read: "Riley, Jessica A".

Sam looked up; hazel met blue.

"Jess?"

xxx

First chapter done! Hopefully, this wasn't too boring for you guys. I wanted Matt to blow up at Emily _so_ bad at some point. This story is dealing with the emotional aftermath of the lodge incident more than anything else. So there will be more tense situations.

Please **review** and let me know what you think. Is everyone in character? Is it too dry?


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